Boards of directors govern practically all organizations of significant size in the public and private sector. Improving the understanding of how boards function is critical because when boards fail, the results can be devastating. Little is understood about the functioning of boards of directors in the public sector, which accounts for a significant amount of the gross national product of the world's economy. The author observed a public sector board of directors for one year. Using the grounded theory research method to analyze the observations, he generated a theory of organizational strategic vitality that describes how a board of directors that is motivated to sustain its organization's strategic vitality will undertake actions to increase the board's effectiveness; strengthen relationships with customers, stakeholders, and partners; create an effective strategy; infuse the strategy throughout its organization; and evaluate and foster strategic performance. In addition, this study found that this public sector board's motivation was self-determined, that motivation affected the selection of the board's primary role, and that the other major roles of a board can become subservient to the primary role once chosen. In addition to these findings, organizational classism was identified as a major impediment to strategic implementation.
","abstract_html":"<p>Boards of directors govern practically all organizations of significant size in the public and private sector. Improving the understanding of how boards function is critical because when boards fail, the results can be devastating. Little is understood about the functioning of boards of directors in the public sector, which accounts for a significant amount of the gross national product of the world's economy. The author observed a public sector board of directors for one year. Using the grounded theory research method to analyze the observations, he generated a theory of organizational strategic vitality that describes how a board of directors that is motivated to sustain its organization's strategic vitality will undertake actions to increase the board's effectiveness; strengthen relationships with customers, stakeholders, and partners; create an effective strategy; infuse the strategy throughout its organization; and evaluate and foster strategic performance. In addition, this study found that this public sector board's motivation was self-determined, that motivation affected the selection of the board's primary role, and that the other major roles of a board can become subservient to the primary role once chosen. In addition to these findings, organizational classism was identified as a major impediment to strategic implementation.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Woodman, Keith L."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Engineering Management & Systems Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Andres Sousa-Poza","Adrian Gheorghe","Vickie Parsons","Trina Chytka"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2011,"date_issued":"2011-04-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2011-04-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:34:25Z","subjects":["Board of directors","Motivations","Public sector","Business Administration, Management, and Operations","Organizational Behavior and Theory","Systems Engineering"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["9781124625744"],"render_values":[{"text":"9781124625744","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/emse_etds/136","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Andres Sousa-Poza","Adrian Gheorghe","Vickie Parsons","Trina Chytka"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Woodman, Keith L."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-03-19T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Engineering Management & Systems Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Board of directors","Motivations","Public sector","Business Administration, Management, and Operations","Organizational Behavior and Theory","Systems Engineering"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["9781124625744","https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/emse_etds/136"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Boards of directors govern practically all organizations of significant size in the public and private sector. Improving the understanding of how boards function is critical because when boards fail, the results can be devastating. Little is understood about the functioning of boards of directors in the public sector, which accounts for a significant amount of the gross national product of the world's economy. The author observed a public sector board of directors for one year. Using the grounded theory research method to analyze the observations, he generated a theory of organizational strategic vitality that describes how a board of directors that is motivated to sustain its organization's strategic vitality will undertake actions to increase the board's effectiveness; strengthen relationships with customers, stakeholders, and partners; create an effective strategy; infuse the strategy throughout its organization; and evaluate and foster strategic performance. In addition, this study found that this public sector board's motivation was self-determined, that motivation affected the selection of the board's primary role, and that the other major roles of a board can become subservient to the primary role once chosen. In addition to these findings, organizational classism was identified as a major impediment to strategic implementation.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Towards an Organizational Strategic Vitality Theory: A Study of a Public Sector Board of Directors"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Andres Sousa-Poza","Adrian Gheorghe","Vickie Parsons","Trina Chytka"],"dc:creator":["Woodman, Keith L."],"dc:date.available":["2019-03-19T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Boards of directors govern practically all organizations of significant size in the public and private sector. Improving the understanding of how boards function is critical because when boards fail, the results can be devastating. Little is understood about the functioning of boards of directors in the public sector, which accounts for a significant amount of the gross national product of the world's economy. The author observed a public sector board of directors for one year. Using the grounded theory research method to analyze the observations, he generated a theory of organizational strategic vitality that describes how a board of directors that is motivated to sustain its organization's strategic vitality will undertake actions to increase the board's effectiveness; strengthen relationships with customers, stakeholders, and partners; create an effective strategy; infuse the strategy throughout its organization; and evaluate and foster strategic performance. In addition, this study found that this public sector board's motivation was self-determined, that motivation affected the selection of the board's primary role, and that the other major roles of a board can become subservient to the primary role once chosen. In addition to these findings, organizational classism was identified as a major impediment to strategic implementation.
"],"dc:identifier":["9781124625744","https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/emse_etds/136"],"dc:subject":["Board of directors","Motivations","Public sector","Business Administration, Management, and Operations","Organizational Behavior and Theory","Systems Engineering"],"dc:title":["Towards an Organizational Strategic Vitality Theory: A Study of a Public Sector Board of Directors"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Engineering Management & Systems Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:34:25Z"}